The panels, connected. Notice the chalk marks that
align with slide location. The webbing is sewn in
place two inches on either side of the slides.

Make Your Own
Mainsail Stacking System
PART II OF PART II
By Linda L. Moore
Assembling and Sewing the Side Panels
In Part I, I began by taking measurements for the custom
sail pack. I identified the supplies needed and calculated
how much fabric to buy. Then I cut and marked the side
panels.
After cutting and hemming the side panels (Part I), I
needed to mark directly onto the fabric where the sail slides
would naturally align with the finished sail pack. This
would give me where I needed to sew the 2-inch webbing.

As discussed in Part I, our plan was not to add hardware to
the boom. We dropped the mainsail to the deck while it was
attached to the boom. While I held the bottom of the port
panel along the boom, Chris marked on it with chalk where
the slides matched up to it, both of us being careful to hold
the Sunbrella panel firmly without pulling it. Our design
included leaving a gap where the reefing lines exit. This
ended up being 30 inches. As well as leaving a gap with no
webbing at the clew slide, that ended up being 20 inches.